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There was something in the air Sunday night. Exactly what it was is up for debate.
Just before 7 p.m., the Collier County Sheriff’s Office received reports from two callers near the 67 mile marker of Alligator Alley who said they saw a bright light in the sky, according to a dispatcher. One of the callers thought it was a flare, while the other thought it was a meteor, the dispatcher said.
Deputies who responded to the calls didn’t find anything.
“I think one of the things that’s happening now is the sky is clear and the visibility is very good,” said Charlie Paxton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tampa. “Alligator Alley, off to the side, away from the lights, is very dark. So being in a dark area or darker area, (meteors) will show up much more vividly. Particularly without the clouds or any noticable haze in the air.”
East coast media also reported calls about “lights in the sky” around 7:30 p.m. Sunday. A U.S. Coast Guard official told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that they had been receiving reports of a possible meteor shower.
The reports came just days after a meteor exploded over Russia’s Urals region, damaging buildings and injuring about 1,000 people. And on Friday a 150-foot asteroid passed by Earth, coming within about 17,150 miles.
■ Q&A: Meteorites strike Earth every few months
All the recent activity is likely a coincidence, said Brian Risley, president of the Southwest Florida Astronomical Society. Meteors fall in the atmosphere all the time, he said.
“Most meteors burn up anywhere from 60 miles up down to about 30 miles up, depending on how fast they’re coming in,” Risley said. “It’s just a matter of timing more than anything right now.”
Risley said this time of year is actually not usually a particularly active time for meteor showers.
“There may be some minor ones going on, but not major ones,” he said. “We get more meteor showers during the summer, fall into winter. From about mid-July to the first of the year is when we have most of the meteor showers that occur.
“Most of the stuff that you see in a meteor shower is the size of a grain of sand.”
■ Sun-Sentinel: Possible meteor shower sighting in South Florida
■ NBC Miami: Bright streak lights up Florida night sky; likely sporadic meteor, expert says
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Comments » 11
Therealist writes:
Why call the Sheriff's Office? What are they going to do?
keekee writes:
NDN, that was a bit misleading, don’t you think? Using a picture of the Russian meteorite in the headline of a bright light in a Southwest Florida sky?
Klaatu writes:
Where in Florida is there snow on the side of the roads?
SCAM PICTURE !
Nice try.
ochopeeapeman writes:
The space apes have landed in the Big Cypress swamp,
my-opinion writes:
Look up.
robert4570 writes:
If that iron ball crashes in Burrito Sprngs , it'll be in the recycling yard before it cools and off to China to manufacture more useless sheit sold at your local super China Mart.
kenny5000c writes:
I don't understand why meteor showers would be more common in the summer, seems like they would be more common in winter due to the fact that the nights are longer.
blueblueblue writes:
Jesus is coming and is he pi--ed!
Neighbor7 writes:
We should ban meteors.
buzzard1 writes:
And what Northern state are you from???
ConcernedinCollier writes:
That is just when we pass through the asteroid area in our trajectory around the sun. It has nothing to do with the length of the day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_s...
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